Shoe hunt

Some veteran had passingly warned my director, Aubert Defoy, about the tedium of finding the right pair of shoes in Pondy, if you are looking for them for a play. He was right. It is near impossible to find a pair of shoes that is just right for your character in Pondicherry.

The big brand showrooms have the usual branded stuff that you hardly want. It is too common. Their selling policy has worked for them and they don't have to advertise. They are shoes for usual use. It can be for casual or special use, but they have them for you right there. But you do not want them because they are too common. You have seen the design on so many feet that you almost know the feel without trying them on yourself.

Available shoes are brown or black, or cream, even green, but not white. You want white. You ask for white in every shop until there is no shop left in town where you have not got a 'no' for a white pair of shoes. You look for the next best compro: a light cream-brown pair. Shoe in that hue is there for the taking but it is never plain. Each pair has some ugly overstated design, which the designer for the weirdest of reason has assumed to be 'good taste'. There is absolutely nothing tasteful about the design nor are they good. The best part is that they are NOT THE SHOES YOUR CHARACTER WILL EVER DREAM OF WEARING!

But the show must go on. Harold Goringe can not go up there in the broad stage light without shoes, can he? He can not, for he is  a dandy.

At this point you are in the 'ladies' wing of the showroom. There you spot a perfect compromise. It is  cream coloured lady's  footwear with a thin golden lining. Gold makes you shudder, but other colours and designs make you sad. The price is good; you settle for the pair you know Harold would not wear, but you would because it is not Harold who is getting tired walking the Pondy streets at almost noon in March, but you.